LeRoy Pennysaver & News

LE ROY PENNYSAVER & NEWS - OCTOBER 25, 2020 by Lynne Belluscio The Victorian well house that was on the huge Lent family estate on West Main Street has been donated to the Historical Society by the Klinkbeil family. This past Saturday, it was lifted off the stone well cap, and was put on a trailer and moved from West Main Street to Mill Street where it will undergo restoration before it will be moved to the gardens behind LeRoy House. A lot of people are working on this project. Linsey Yoder, of Bero Associates who lives in Stafford, is the architect, who made detailed drawings of the pump house. Mike Lauterborn of Lauterborn Electric Co. who owns the LeRoy Bottling Works on Mill Street, used his boom truck and trailer to lift the pump house off the foundation and move it to Mill Street. Rob Bopp from Caledonia was the other part of the Lauterborn team. Rob was also on hand when Mike installed the gas light from the Klinkbeils in front of LeRoy House. Joe Malovich of Malovich Environmental from Stafford, trimmed the trees so that Mike could get in with his equipment. A quick call to LeRoy police officer Jake and he provided an escort down Main Street. Soon Gary Fink of Bergen will start restoration work on the pump house. Last week he removed the acorn finial and will be turning a new one. That was a crucial move, since the finial made the pump house too tall to transport. Ron Coniber will be moving the stone well cap to the LeRoy House garden and will be filling in the old hand-dug well. And all of this is possible, because the Crocker family donated funds in memory of Judd and Marilyn Crocker, for a special project. As they say, it takes a village - - and then some. The pump house was built over a well on the Lent homestead and from architectural evidence, it was probably built between 1860 and 1880. The hand-dug well may have been there a long time before the pump house was built. It’s 15 feet deep and lined with stone and could have been dug in 1811 when Thomas Tufts had the house built. In 1813, he moved across the road (The Boylan Law office) and Captain John Lent and his wife moved into the huge house and opened an inn and tavern. This was on the “State Road” now known as Route 5, and it was the main road to Niagara. The Lent homestead remained in the Lent family until 1926, when it passed into the Bissell family. In 1944, it was purchased by Charles and Samuel Drayo and in 1969, the eastern section of the property, which included the pump house, was sold to the Klinkbeil family. “Willie” Klinkbeil built a ranch-style home and he continued to care for the pump house, saving it from deterioration. He also took care of the 1878 gas street light which was moved to LeRoy House a short time ago. The pump house is so architecturally significant, that it was included in Carl Schmidt’s 1963 book, “Fences, Gates and Garden Houses.” Schmidt did not speculate on the age of the building. He only included measured drawings. The pump house shows up on a map of LeRoy, with a driveway that circles around the pump house. Chris Klinkbeil has pointed out a large limestone carriage step that is in the midst of some bushes. It was probably located next to the driveway, and the Klinkbeils have also donated that to the Historical Society, along with some stone horse hitching posts. I have been looking for old photographs of the pump house in the 1800s, but so far none have been found. Apparently, the Lent family didn’t have their pictures taken outside near the pump house. I am also researching the type of pump that might have been in the pump house. Early pumps were made of wood. A hole was bored through a log and a leaver flapper valve was inserted and attached to a handle. If indeed the pump house dates to the 1870s, the pump in the pump house was probably made of iron. The short iron pump that was in the pump house, is the type that might have been mounted next to a sink, or on a stand. In 1848, the first all-metal pump in the world was cast and assembled in nearby Seneca Falls. The all-iron pump was the idea of Seabury Gould and the Gould Pump Company is an important part of Western New York History. We will be looking for a tall iron pump - - perhaps a Gould pump - - to put in the pump house. Additional updates, and research will be included in the next Historical Society newsletter and shared on LeRoy Then and Now. Many thanks to all the folks who are working on this project. A Hidden Jewel Revealed